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Brush to canvas: SHINE and other art news
More work by Abys Osmoz at Moderna, 201 17th Street S.
St. Petersburg’s world-renowned mural festival, SHINE, kicks off Friday. This 2024 edition, which coincides with the event’s 10th anniversary, was supposed to happen Oct. 11-20. After the water and wind of Helene in late September, SHINE director Jenee Priebe remained hopeful that things might still go off on schedule.
Then came Milton, two weeks later. And you know the rest.
“We did a lot of extra stuff this year to mark the 10th anniversary,” Priebe said. “So it’s been extra-devastating, to be honest. The timing of it. I’m super-thankful that we’ve been able to reschedule.
The Force is strong with this one.
“We have all the original artists on board, even for our big event at FloridaRAMA. Everybody’s been able to adjust and stick – somewhat – with the original plan.”
Originally scheduled as the festival’s wrap-up party, the SHINE 2024 Celebration will take place Saturday (it’s free, and special VIP tickets are available), on the second day of activities.
“But man, it’s been a lot of work to just completely re-do it. The timing just couldn’t have been worse.”
Priebe’s comments were made during an interview for our Arts Alive! podcast, which will publish Friday morning.
The artist roster remains the same – St. Pete’s getting 15 new outdoor murals, all painted in real time (i.e. you’re invited to watch). Here’s the link to the artists and their locations.
A scheduling conflict meant that French muralist Abys Osmoz started and finished his piece at Modera, 201 17th Street S. “He came and knocked that out in about four days,” said Priebe. The artist had a little time left in the city. “So we hooked him up with the back side of Anchor Skate Shop; Johnny Vitale and Kris Markovich are painting the other sides of it.”
That one’s finished, too, at 501 16th Street S.
The Dwayne Shepherd and Brian McAllister/FAEA mural at Bell Pharmacy, 3535 Central Ave. Image: Sunsation Media.
Among the 2024 “Bright Spots” community murals, Dwayne Shepherd and Brian McAllister, working in partnership with The Florida Art Educators Association (FAEA), have completed their “The Importance of Art Education” mural at Bell Pharmacy, 3535 Central. There was an FAEA convention in town the second week of October, with a lot of out-of-town participants, so it was a “now or never” situation.
“My hope is that, with these new rescheduled dates, there’s enough time for people to settle a little bit and be ready to come out. That’s been the hardest part for me because I know what SHINE is like in a typical year. Hundreds and hundreds of people come by a wall every day … there’s this whole thing that happens.
“Now, we’re kind of trickling out murals, and it’s not quite the same. I really would love to see people come out and support the artists, and be able to provide that energy that we know St. Pete gives every year.”
At Craftsman House: Handmade bags by Kat Cleary of Madeira Beach. She and her artist husband Dan lost their home, car and all their possessions. These bags were in a plastic bin, and were their only items that survived Hurricane Helene.
Art news
Saturday brings the November edition of the Second Saturday ArtWalk, produced – as is SHINE – by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance. Here’s the map of artist studios and galleries participating in this edition of the self-guided tour.
Opening Saturday at the Craftsman House Gallery is Rise, work from artists that have been affected by our two recent hurricanes. Many artists lost everything. Craftsman House will also donate proceeds from the sales of other select artists to benefit these victims.
The 1973 Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon has long been considered something of a trippy, spacy sonic masterpiece, providing the soundtrack to everything from hallucinogenic experiences to planetarium light and laser shows. Some people even cue it up as The Wizard of Oz screens (on silent) in the background, to imagined synchronization. None of which the members of Pink Floyd intended in 1973, but there you are.
The Dali Museum has prepared its 360 degree Dali Dome (that big round thing out back) with an “immersive” audio/visual journey through The Dark Side of the Moon, available select Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Find tickets here.
Opening Nov. 16 at the Dali is The Subversive Eye: Surrealist and Experimental Photography from the David Raymond Collection; over 100 works by more than 50 artists demonstrate how Surrealism inspired photographic expression (1920s through the ‘40s).
